St. Athanasius of Muzaka

Church of St. Athanasius of Muzaka ; (Άγιος Αθανάσιος του Μουζάκη)
	; Church of St. Athanasius of Muzaka
Data
place	Kastoria ( West Macedonia , Greece )
Client	Theodor II. Muzaka , Stoya Muzaka, monk Dionysius
Construction year	1383/84
Coordinates	40 ° 30 '54.9 " N , 21 ° 16' 1.4" O Coordinates: 40 ° 30 '54.9 " N , 21 ° 16' 1.4" E
particularities
	Byzantine monument

The St. Athanasius von Muzaka Church ( Greek Άγιος Αθανάσιος του Μουζάκη ) is a Greek Orthodox church in Kastoria , Western Macedonia in Greece , which, according to the owner's inscription on the west wall, was built by the brothers Theodor II in 1383/84 . ( Sebastokrator of the area of Musakja ( Myzeqeja ) with the city of Berat ) and Stoya (lord of the Kastoria landscape with all cities and domains) from the wealthy Albanian noble family Muzaka and the monk Dionysius.

description

The small Church of St. Athanasius of Muzaka not far from Lake Kastoria is one of the most important Byzantine monuments in the region and was built at a very critical time for the city of Kastoria.

Theodor II. Muzaka's father Andrea II. Muzaka succeeded in taking the city of Kastoria on the Pindus from the Serbian pretender Marko Kraljević in the Battle of the Mariza in 1371 . For this victory Andrea II received the investiture of Kastoria from the Byzantine Emperor John V in 1372 . Theodor III. was the last ruler of the city before the Ottoman conquest in 1385.

The architecture of the building is quite simple and belongs to the type of single-nave basilicas with a semicircular apse to the east. The narthex in the west is from a later period.

Apart from the blind arches on the north, south and west sides, the external appearance of the church building has little aesthetic value. The masonry is made of irregular stones glued together with mud and the wooden roof was replaced in the 1950s, keeping only a few elements from the original building.

The numerous frescoes in the interior date from the time the church was built (1383/84) and include scenes from the life of Christ and his Passion , as well as individual forms of saints , among which the local and especially the military Saints hold a special place.

The apse to the east

West facade

Fresco of Saint Todor

The Mother of God as Basílissa , the Intercessor with her Son Jesus Christ

Web links

Commons : Saint Athanasius of Mouzakis Church - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

St. Athanasius of Mouzaki. In: Smartculture-webgis.eu. Accessed March 15, 2018 .

Individual evidence

↑ General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts . First Section AG. Hermann Brockhaus, Leipzig 1865, p. 42 ( full text in Google Book Search).
^ Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf : Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues . Weidmann, Berlin 1873, p. 282 (Italian, archive.org ).
↑ St. Athanasius of Mouzaka. In: Religiousgreece.gr. Retrieved March 15, 2018 (Greek).
↑ Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf, p. 281
↑ Saint Athanasios of Mouzaki. In: Bizantino-gr.blogspot.it. Retrieved March 15, 2018 (Greek).

[1] General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts . First Section AG. Hermann Brockhaus, Leipzig 1865, p. 42 ( full text in Google Book Search).

[2] Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf : Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues . Weidmann, Berlin 1873, p. 282 (Italian, archive.org ).

[3] St. Athanasius of Mouzaka. In: Religiousgreece.gr. Retrieved March 15, 2018 (Greek).

[4] Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf, p. 281

[5] Saint Athanasios of Mouzaki. In: Bizantino-gr.blogspot.it. Retrieved March 15, 2018 (Greek).